As with all shows, Johnny got everyone moving around, and dancing during the first few moments of the show. That resulted in body surfing and the younger people running for cover. All was fun, they sounded great. The vocals, as always were cutting through the music, and Mike was reinforcing his powerful drum style.
Crowd interaction the entire night was fantastic, except for the teenager who was brought up onto the stage, and decided it would be "smart" to hug Johnny and go nuts, practically preventing him from doing his part. She was quickly carried off stage. You think this girl would have been as mature as Kristi was when she sang the outro to Name. ?I?
Nathan December and Dave Shultz added tightness to the bands sound, and performed very well, they both played their hearts out, and the fans loved it. You could see a well defined connection between the bandmates. I especially liked Nathan's Bills logo on the first Telecaster guitar he used, made me eager to get home to Buffalo during college break.
Johnny continued to work the crowd the entire night, acknowledging the faithful fans "you know who you are". Robby's vocals were right on, his bass kicked a$$, and the Cartmen sticker was cool on his bass head. . What a night!!! During Name, Johnny told the "oh so famous" story about the letter he received from a, well anyways, Johnny tells it better, so get to a show and check it out.
The older material was excellent, kinda wish they would have played more of it. It's understandable, considering this wasn't a Buffalo show. The crowd had puzzling reactions during this part of the set anyways, but at other times, the place rocked. I'm not really sure how many people were in the "barn" during the actually show, because I was in the front row off to the left side a little of the stage. My ears rang for a couple of days afterwards, but every bit was worth it. (P.S. I was the guy in the Sabres hockey jersey for you people that were there, maybe you saw me?!?)
Iris's mandolin part performed by Nathan was really cool. He's a really good musician, along with everyone else. Hey if anyone knows the story behind the number "12" on all his Fender guitars, let me know. Maybe its for Jim Kelly, then again maybe not.
The night ended with Johnny and his sister/wife/partner Robby jamming out, and smashing a beautiful, white, Fender Stratocaster on the stage. People scrabbled everywheres to get their hands on pieces of it. I think the only part of it that wasn't retrieved by fans, was the neck, and I asked the guitar tech. for it, but received a disappointing no. My friend and I stuck around by the back of the stage for a while after the show, I just knew Johnny, Robby or Mike would come back out, and Johnny did. He signed a box of crackers for a girl, made a few comments and then disappeared behind the curtain. By this time the place had started to empty out, and the security guards were forcing everyone else out. So we finally left.
It was an amazing show, a great end to a fall semester at OSU, and was time to fly back to Buffalo for break. If you have never been to a dolls concert, your missing out. If you have been to one before, but not yet on this club tour, hurry up, it will be one of the most intense experiences of your concert career. They really know how to charge the room with energy and will leave you wanting more!!!
Randy Kenny
Buffalo, NY